Cleveland Guardians 2024 Prospect Scouting Report: #38 RHP Trenton Denholm

Denholm has solid control and an above average changeup, needing to sit in a more consistent velocity band, add strength, and sharpen his command and curveball

Trenton Denholm Bio

• Age (2024 season): 24

• Acquired: 2021 Draft (Round 14)

• 2023 Level: High-A

• Height: 5’11

• Weight: 180

• Throws: Right

Trenton Denholm 2023 Stats

• G/GS: 23

• IP: 77

• ERA/FIP: 3.16/3.18

• K/BB: 67/28

• K%/BB%: 21.2%/5.7%

• WHIP: 1.14

Trenton Denholm 2024 Scouting Grades

• Fastball: 45

• Curveball: 45

• Changeup: 55

• Command: 40

• Overall: 40

• Risk: High

• ETA: 2027

Build & Background

At 5’11, Denholm is a smaller statured pitcher. He has a compact frame, with moderate levers at best and he carries some sneaky strength in his lower half and legs. Overall strong build for his frame but thin for a pitcher. There’s some limited room to add strength in his upper half, but his frame and build are mostly set at this point. The Eldorado Hills, CA native has a very smooth operation on the mound. Cleveland has helped Denholm move to a chest high leg kick and has him coming through with a nearly over the top release. He keeps his leg kick and hands insync very well, with a moderate arm action. He uses a quick step back into his leg kick, which he puts into a drop and drive to create momentum and work downhill with his high arm slot. Despite some of those moving parts, especially in his leg kick, he repeats his delivery pretty well. Was drafted by the Red Sox out of high school but didn’t sign, betting on himself. Denholm probably would have been drafted in 2020 if not for the five round pandemic draft, and Cleveland grabbed him out of UC Irvine in he 14th round in 2021. He pitched for the Team USA collegiate squad. He’s been healthy since getting to pro ball, save for some shoulder soreness in 2022. 

What Denholm Does Well

As noted above, Denholm has a pretty smooth operating delivery and he repeats it well. That helps him throw a good volume of strikes with his entire arsenal. His fastball has some ride on it at the top of the zone and it carries with his high arm slot. The changeup is Denholm’s best offering. It has plenty of fade and some run to it. He throws it with fastball arm speed, so he sells it well enough to get it to die under hitters bats low in the zone, and he has good velocity separation on it from his fastball. Denholm also has a solidly shaped, tight power curve. It doesn’t have the velocity of your typical “power” curve but it has a short hump and drop with promising shape that will flash as average or better.

https://x.com/JL_Baseball/status/1649204461032685569?s=20

https://x.com/JL_Baseball/status/1674948847200620545?s=20

Where Denholm Needs to Improve

He’s not going to grow anymore at this point physically, but added strength is something Denholm could use to sustain his velocity more and address ome concerns about how his body would hold up as a starter long term. Cleveland was very careful about his workload in 2023, often using him as a piggyback starter and having him go three or four innings. So that does nothing to dissuade those concerns. In 2022, there were reports (and some video) suggesting he was able to get up to 96-97 at times. In 2023, he came in a lot at 89-94 for the most part. While his fastball does work well above the letters, he can’t afford to leave it in the zone, as it will get hammered. He also tends to finish high with the changeup sometimes, which could get him in trouble. Denholm’s curveball with flash average, sometimes better, but he’s inconsistent with being able to snap it at times and locate it. It’s probably his third best controlled pitch. A little more velocity would also help tighten it up. His chest high leg kick also puts him on the slower side of average-fringe average in terms of time to the plate (1.5-1.7), which will make him susceptible to the run game. Overall he has more control than command right now. 

Key Stats

A key stat worth watching if Denholm can repeat at Double-A this year is his home run rate. For a pitcher that is somewhat of a control artist and has had inconsistent fastball velocity, Denholm wasn’t touched for a lot of homers in his 77 innings at High-A, and in the summer, Classic Park plays very hitter-friendly for left handed hitters. Double-A hitters will give him a good test to see if he can continue to keep the ball in the ballpark, though Canal Park tends to be pitcher friendly. But there are Eastern League ballparks that can be brutal for pitchers like Denholm.

Intangibles

Denholm’s Team USA performance helped him get drafted by Cleveland as well as strong performance on the Cape in college summers. Playing on those circuits also suggests a desire to compete and continue to work to get better outside of the college season. He is related to former MLB catcher, Rod Barajas so there is some family ties there and learned from him in high school. 

Future

Right now, Denholm sort of looks like a 1.5-2 pitch pitcher. He needs more consistent velo on his fastball and needs to locate it better. His changeup is a legitimate outpitch. I could see it playing as a plus pitch for him if he were to find better fastball velo more consistently and avoid missing high with it at times. The version of Denholm that is more 92-95 has a chance to be a fringe-fill in back of the rotation arm, a la a Eli Morgan or Xzavion Curry type, who both have similar size and really only have two average or better pitches. But Denholm’s curveball has the shape to be average and could be more effective with better velocity and command as well. I see the potential for Denholm’s fastball and curve to both be average at worst, and his changeup a 60, and his command a 45 or 50. That’s enough to be a sixth starter type. If that doesn’t end up panning out, I think he’s most likely a two pitch reliever like Morgan, where his fastball can gain velo in the pen and his changeup can be an out pitch, which is ultimately where I see the most viable big league role for him given his size as well.

Role

40 - Swingman, middle relief, depth starter